Horst, Menno (1920-1946)

Revision as of 17:23, 4 December 2014

Mennonite Weekly Review obituary: 1946 Dec 5 p. 1

Birth date: 1920

text of obituary:

Fumes From Heater Fatal To Family Of Three in California

Ontario, Calif. — Funeral services took place at the Brethren in Christ church of Uplan [sic Upland] on Nov. 21 for the three members of one family who met death at their home here the night of Nov. 14 when suffocated by fumes form a gas heater in their bedroom. The deceased are Menno Horst, 26, his wife, Allene, 24 and their five-year-old daughter, Evelyn Joan.

Another daughter, Eleanor, 13 months old, escaped probable death because she was spending the night at the home of her great-grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. B. P. Swartzendruber of Upland.

Mrs. Horst was the daughter of George H. and Ida Beare, missionaries to the Central provinces, India, since 1926. She had lived in India from the age of five until about six years ago. Mr. Horst was the son of Mrs. L. K. Horst of Upland and is survived by five sisters.

The tragedy was not discovered until the evening of Nov. 15 when a relative of the Horsts, Mrs. Roy Roth of Upland, called at the home and, unable to arouse anyone, summoned police officers.

Relatives stated that the Horsts had just recently purchased the bedroom heater and had probably gone to bed with windows closed and the flame turned high due to the fact that Mr. Horst and his daughter were suffering from colds.

(A full report of the funeral service and obituaries of Mr. and Mrs. Horst and daughter will be printed in next week's Review.)

Mennonite Weekly Review obituary: 1946 Dec 12 p. 3

text of obituary:

Last Rites For Family of Three Who Died In Tragic Accident

EDITOR'S NOTE: The Review is indebted to Mrs. E. L. Guengerich of Upland, Calif., for the following account of the funeral services for Mr. and Mrs. Menno Horst and small daughter. Mrs. Guengerich also wrote the obituaries of the three deceased.

Approximately 600 friends and relatives gathered at the Brethren in Christ church of Upland, California, on Nov. 21 at 2 p. m., to pay final tribute to the members of the Menno Horst family — Menno, Allene, and their daughter, Evelyn Joann — who were accidentally asphyxiated in their home on Friday, Nov. 15, 1946.

The officiating ministers were Rev. John Leatherman and Rev. Sherman Maust of the Alpine Mennonite church, Upland, Rev. Alvin C. Burkholder of the Brethren in Christ church and Bishop J. P. Bontrager of the Mennonite church at Atwater, California.

The church was filled to capacity for the unusually touching service. The opening Scripture, read by Rev. Leatherman, was preceded by the song, "Silently Bury the Dead," rendered by the Brethren in Christ church quartet — Mrs. Ralph Byer, Mrs Jesse Lady, A. L. Eshelman, and H. R. Alderfer.

The obituaries, read by Rev. Alvin S. Burkholder, were followed by the song, "Gathering Buds" sung by the "Melody Messengers" Quartet of Beulah College, upland — the Misses Ethel Reeser, Ardys Byer, Joyce markley, and Lillian Musser.

The beautifully touching remarks by Rev. Sherman Maust, picturing vividly the joys of heaven, where little children abound "playing in the streets therof," and the sobering and inspiring sermon by Rev. J. P. Bontrager, were interspersed by two musical numbers, "The Pearly White City," by the church quartet, and "How Beautiful Heaven Must Be," by the Melody Messengers. "The Pearly White City" was among Mrs. Horst's favorite songs, and she was planning to sing it as member of a trio for a special program at the Alpine Mennonite church, to be held Dec. 6,. 1946.